Animal-trap.



No. 706,470. Patented Aug. 5. I902.

P. A. WHITNEY.

ANIMAL TRAP.

[Application filed Mar. 4, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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ma mums runs an mom-u ns UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- PARDON A. WHITNEY,OF SOUTHINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

ANIMAL-TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 706,470, dated August5, 1902.

Application filed March 4, 1902. Serial No. 96,625. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PARDON A. WHITNEY, V

a citizen of the United States of America, re;

siding at Southington, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented trap having features of novelty andadvantage.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the trap with thejaws closed. Fig. 2 is a sectional end view with the jaws open.

I have noticed in traps of this class as they are built at the presenttime that when they are opened the free jaw-that is to say, the onewhich is not held down by the latch-is invariably thrown up by thespring, sothat it lies very much higher than the confined jaw. Thismakes it very much more difficult to conceal the traps than if the jawswere substantially in the same plane and in their lowest position, andanother disadvantage is the fact that this jaw being raised is in theway of game and very often acts as an alarm to warn them away. There areother decided disadvantages in such an arrangement-as, for instance, thefact that when the trap is sprung one jaw has farther to move than theother, and they do not therefore come together at the same time and withthe same quickness as they would otherwise. Having noticed these seriousobjections to traps of this kind, I have devised a means of overcomingthese difliculties and of causing the jaws to rest in their lowestpositions and in approximately the same planes one with the other. Themeans for. accomplishing this object, which are shown in the drawings,consist in forming a lug or projection A on what I will term the trippedjaw B at a point where Fig. 2 clearly illustrates the manner in'whichthis lug acts on the spring, and

it is found that by this construction the jaws of the trap when it isset lie substantially in thesame plane and in the lowest positions.

I thus overcome all of the objections to the spring traps which haveheretofore been made, and these objections are very serious ones whenthe nature of the use to which these traps are put is understood. Thereare other ways in which this same result can be accomplished-as, forinstance, by lowering the pivotal point of the trip-j aw at the springend of the trap-and I desire to include herein and in the followingclaims any such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In a trap of the class specified thecombination withthe pair of pivoted jaws, of a latch engaging one ofsaid jaws when in open position, and a spring, the one jaw which isengaged by the latch being provided with a projection adapted to engagethe said spring.

2. In a trap of the class specified, the combination of the pair ofpivoted jaws, one of said jaws being provided on its outer edge with anoutwardly-projecting portion, a latch to engage the last-named jaw, anda spring adapted to be engaged by the projected portion of the said jawwhen in open position, whereby both jaws are held in substantiallythesame plane.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. PARDON A. WHITNEY. Witnesses:

F. A. SUTLIFFE, E. M. STANNARD.

